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Public Health Laboratory Network · Pacific Northwest

From swab collection to surveillance dashboard — every result defensible, every chain of custody intact.

A BSL-2 certified network of public health laboratories serving county health officers, water district compliance managers, and state epidemiologists who need genomic sequencing results before the morning briefing.

All sites operational · Lab status current as of Feb 25, 2026
Laboratory Performance · FY 2025
24hr

Standard TAT

Routine environmental panels

6hr

Outbreak TAT

Priority pathogen identification

480K+

Annual Samples

Processed across all network sites

340+

Pathogen Panels

Validated & CLIA-certified

Request a Capabilities BriefingResponse within 1 business day · No commitment required
Testing Capabilities

Four Domains.
One Defensible Record.

Each capability is backed by validated methods, traceable instrumentation, and accreditation documentation available on request.

Key Metric
99.97%

Regulatory concordance rate

Environmental & Water Testing

From municipal distribution systems to cooling towers and recreational waters — every matrix, every regulated analyte. We interrogate samples down to single colony counts and deliver results that clear EPA deadlines and hold up in administrative hearings.

Potable water, wastewater, recreational water, and industrial discharge testing under EPA Methods 1600, 1603, 524.3, 200.8, and 300.0. PFAS screening via EPA 533 and 537.1. Real-time PCR confirmation for Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1.

Validated Methods

EPA 1600/1603EPA 533/537.1RT-PCRICP-MSIC

Instrumentation

Thermo ICP-MS 7900Roche LightCyclerWaters UPLC-MS/MS
Key Metric
4.2hr

Median priority result TAT

Clinical Diagnostics & Outbreak Response

When an emergency department flags a cluster, our outbreak response protocol activates within the hour. Respiratory panels, enteric pathogen identification, and bloodborne pathogen confirmation — all routed to your surveillance dashboard before the morning briefing.

Syndromic respiratory panels (influenza A/B, RSV, SARS-CoV-2, hMPV), enteric pathogen cultures and PCR (Salmonella, Shigella, STEC, Campylobacter, Norovirus GI/GII), and bloodborne pathogen confirmation. CLIA high-complexity certified.

Validated Methods

BioFire FilmArrayMultiplex PCRCulture + SensitivityMALDI-TOF

Instrumentation

BioFire TorchbioMérieux VITEK 2Bruker MALDI Biotyper
Key Metric
72hr

WGS to surveillance dashboard

Genomic Surveillance & WGS

Whole genome sequencing results routed into PulseNet, GenomeTrakr, and state epidemiological surveillance platforms by morning. Cluster analysis, phylogenetic trees, and source attribution — the evidence chain your investigators need.

Illumina short-read WGS for foodborne pathogen source attribution (Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli O157). Oxford Nanopore long-read for novel variant characterization. Bioinformatics pipeline outputs in NCBI-compatible formats with full metadata schemas for CDC reporting.

Validated Methods

Illumina WGSNanopore ONTSNP AnalysisMLST/cgMLST

Instrumentation

Illumina NextSeq 550Oxford Nanopore MinIONNCBI Pathogen Detection
Key Metric
98.4%

Susceptibility panel concordance vs. reference

Antimicrobial Resistance Profiling

AMR surveillance data that feeds directly into NHSN and state AR programs. Minimum inhibitory concentration determination, resistance gene detection, and plasmid characterization for the isolates that matter most to your jurisdiction.

Broth microdilution MIC panels for critical-priority pathogens (CRE, CRAB, CRPA, VRSA). Genotypic resistance profiling via targeted sequencing (mecA, blaKPC, blaNDM, vanA/B). Phenotypic confirmation per CLSI M100 standards. Data export in WHONET and NHSN-compatible formats.

Validated Methods

Broth MicrodilutionCLSI M100WHONET ExportGene Sequencing

Instrumentation

Sensititre ARIS 2XbioMérieux ETESTIllumina MiSeq

Field Record

Evidence in the Dossier

Every finding below is documented, chain-of-custody verified, and available as reference for procurement officers upon request.

Outbreak ResponseKing County, WA · August 2024
72 hours: swab to source

Legionella Cluster Traced in 72 Hours — Cooling Tower Source Confirmed

Situation

County health received three hospital reports of Legionnaires' disease within a four-block radius on a Tuesday morning. Assay_Lab's outbreak response protocol activated at 07:15. Environmental swabs from six cooling towers were collected by 11:00. Real-time PCR identified Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 in Tower 3 by 14:30. Sequence typing confirmed genetic match to all three clinical isolates by Thursday morning.

Outcome

The building's water management plan was suspended and hyperchlorination initiated before the county's Thursday press conference. No additional cases were reported after the source was remediated. The 72-hour chain of evidence was used in the subsequent administrative enforcement action.

Key Findings

3/3

Clinical isolates matched

24

Environmental samples processed

72

Hours to source confirmation

0

Additional cases post-intervention

Water ComplianceClallam County PUD, WA · March 2025
48 hours: sample to compliance package

Municipal Distribution System Cleared for Reopening — 48-Hour TCR Compliance Package

Situation

Following a main break and precautionary boil-water advisory affecting 4,200 service connections, the district required Total Coliform Rule compliance documentation before lifting restrictions. Assay_Lab collected 42 distribution system samples across six pressure zones simultaneously. All samples were processed under EPA Method 9223B with presence/absence confirmation.

Outcome

A zero-positive compliance package with chain-of-custody documentation was delivered to the district's compliance manager and the state primacy agency simultaneously at 09:00 on day two. The boil-water advisory was lifted at 14:00, 22 hours ahead of the originally projected timeline, eliminating an estimated $340,000 in bottled water distribution costs.

Key Findings

42

Distribution samples analyzed

0/42

Positive coliform results

48

Hours to compliance package

$340K

Projected cost savings

Download Our Complete Test Menu

Full panel catalog with method references, detection limits, and accreditation scope. Available to verified public health agencies.

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Engage the Lab

Request a Capabilities Briefing

A 30-minute structured briefing tailored to your jurisdiction's testing priorities. We'll walk through applicable accreditation scope, turnaround commitments, and data delivery formats before any contract discussion.

ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Accredited — A2LA Certificate #4827.01

CLIA Certificate of Compliance — Certificate #52D2234921

EPA-approved methods — Full scope available on request

Three BSL-2 certified network sites — WA, OR, CA

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